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Opinion: Ashley Browne
What I’m thinking
with Ashley Browne
Silence not always golden
Umpires should be seen – and heard – in the wake of some recent controversy.
In the wake of the chaotic end to the Sydney-Richmond game in round 11, there were loud calls for the AFL to front up the following day to explain it all.
The decision not to award the 50m penalty to Tiger Dion Prestia, which would have given him the opportunity to kick the match-winning goal 30m out, had everyone talking.
Except for the AFL.
The League did not make umpire Matt Stevic available the day after the game.
The explanation offered was that if he spoke to one media outlet, he would have to speak to them all, which on a Saturday morning would mean about a dozen interviews for radio, TV, newspapers and online.
Instead of the written statement put forward by the AFL, perhaps an all-in media conference might have worked better because not only is Stevic the best and one of the most experienced whistle-blowers in the game, he always speaks well in any public forum.
He was the centrepiece of an extensive and excellent profile in Nine Media’s Good Weekend magazine last month, as part of the AFL’s push to promote umpiring and, dare we say it, humanise those who wear the fluoro green and silver.
Stevic presented well in that piece, as he did in 2014, when I had the good fortune of spending a week embedded with the umpires as part of a feature story for the AFL Record.
Much of the week was spent following Stevic around as he prepared to umpire a game, and it certainly shaped my outlook and confirmed suspicions that umpires have the toughest job in football.
It is an ongoing conundrum for the AFL.
How much of the communication out of the umpiring department should be proactive, instead of reactive, especially now, when community football is operating around Australia with a shortage of 6000 umpires?
The old-timers remember the What’s Your Decision segment on World of Sport.
The likes of Bill Deller, Ian Robinson, Glenn James and Kevin Smith would walk through some of the contentious decisions from the day before.
It was occasionally combative, but they gave as good as they got, and for their troubles they walked away with a boot full of Patra orange juice, Ballantynes chocolates and Tosca travel bags.
In the 1990s, Channel Seven installed then recently retired umpire John Russo into their match broadcasts, again to provide instant reaction and analysis to major decisions.
But umpire interaction with the media has been spotty ever since.
New umpiring directors come to the AFL and, initially, offer full-throated support for What’s Your Decision style content on the League’s own digital channels.
The most recent of these was AFL.com.au’s Whistleblowers, which went to exceptional lengths to make sure that equal time was given to highlight what the umpires got right, as well as instances where they made an error.
But the enthusiasm ran dry. Umpires are a bit like wicketkeepers and goalkeepers. Nobody wants to hear from them when they’re doing their jobs properly.
But when they mess up? That’s another story entirely and that’s what the umpires and their minders grew tired of. They felt under siege and the content disappeared from the schedule.
To be fair, there is not complete radio silence coming from AFL umpiring HQ.
In addition to the recent Stevic feature, ‘Razor’ Ray Chamberlain is a semi-regular guest on SEN 1116 with Gerard Whateley.
If not exactly taking us through contentious decisions, he at least walks through the complexities of a role, it must be said, the AFL makes more difficult by the year and even by the week, with new rules and fresh interpretations.
Like Stevic, Chamberlain is an excellent media performer.
There are now a few generals at AFL House when it comes to umpiring.
The highly-regarded Lisa Lawry has stepped in as their general manager, working alongside umpiring director Dan Richardson and head coach Michael Jennings.
Their various job descriptions are in the process of being finalised and it is unclear just who the boss of umpiring is going forward, but let’s hope that someone from their cohort puts up their hand to be the face of umpiring and that the accountability returns, even to just a fraction of what it used to be.
WHAT’S YOUR
DECISION?: The round 11 clash between the Swans and Tigers ended in controversy; (inset) senior umpires Matt Stevic and Ray Chamberlain, a semi-regular guest on the Whateley program on SEN 1116.
Umpires have the toughest job in football ... but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be held more accountable
